PW_Plack
Active Member
I took this to mean Dennis was done with this thread, but in case I misunderstood, I'll keep this brief.
Five, of the options available, I think it would have to be an industry association that gets this started, not a group representing individual enthusiasts. The group would be made up of companies which have quantified the market potential to their own satisfaction, and understand the potential of adding the US to the mix. In other words, the association might be dominated by non-US companies, at least at first. (As the LSA fixed-wing world has been.)
Assuming that process has not already begun might be inaccurate.
Vance is on-target here, but I disagree that a market does not exist. It is untapped and unproven, but research could determine whether it exists, and how big it is.
My hunch is if you got together a group of 100 people who have investments of $50K or more in other recreational powersports equipment, and showed them how they could fly gyros for the same money or less, some significant percentage of them would do it in a heartbeat. But hunches are not an adequate research. Research companies have techniques for estimating these things with enough accuracy to satisfy the needs of investors.
If European countries can support competing manufacturers of factory-built light sport gyroplanes, then what's the difference? I believe it's the cost of regulation. Currently there are only two paths open to companies which would serve the US: Experimental Amateur-Built, and full-on Part 23 Standard Category. EAB is what we have now, and clearly few people are interested in building, and even fewer wind up with flying machines that are safe and dependable. Part 23 is a $100-million or more proposition for most new aircraft. LSA would fall in the middle, and make possible machines like we see produced in Europe now.
Expecting the PRA to lead such an effort is unrealistic. There's nothing wrong with PRA, it's just that the organization represents the interests of its membership, and if those 2- or 3,000 people don't care much about LSA, the low priority is perfectly understandable.
IF LSA gyros were to happen, the makeup of PRA would shift over time, as more newcomers to the sport became PRA members.
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